Doing It Right
by loudmouthgeek
Summary: Sequel to "Tell Me Why" Established Britberrytana friendship. Santana knows what she has to do to win Rachel, so it's time to get down to it. Rated T for mild language and suggestiveness.


**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: I've sort of inadvertently inundated myself with Faberry the last week or so and thought I'd get back to a little Pezberry for a change of scenery and to get back to those who were so enthusiastic about "Tell My Why." This is a little short piece but I like it. I hope you do too. There another dose of Finn bashing here. I'm trying to get it out of my system before I get back to "You Can Do Better" where Finn is supposed to be a half-decent person. Hopefully I get to that before next Tuesday and the stupid oaf gets off scott free for outing Santana, as I'm sure he will.**

**Doing It Right**

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, "can I talk to you for a sec?"

Rachel was looking into her locker when the tall boy had lumbered up behind her. She knew what was to come. The tall boy had been trying to "talk to her for a sec" for the last two weeks despite what she thought was some artful dodging involving friendly bonding and familial commitments over the holidays. Rachel and Santana weren't official yet as both girls had decided that the stresses of the holidays weren't a good time to add in the pressures of a first date, so technically Finn wasn't out of line trying to pursue Rachel even if he _had_ just gotten out of year long relationship with Quinn Fabray, but Rachel had kissed Finn and she had kissed Santana and she knew which of them she was much, _much_ more eager to kiss again. She figured it was time to confront this situation head on, so she rolled her eyes before plastering on her stage smile and turning around to face Finn. "Sure, Finn, how can I help you today?" she asked as if she didn't know.

"I was sort of wondering if you wanted to do something after school. Y'know, hang out or something. There's this new burger joint across from the bowling alley, we could go get a bite and then go bowling, maybe."

"As I've explained to you many times before, Finn, I do not eat meat or any animal products. I am vegan, so taking me to a quote-unquote burger joint would leave me with little to do, and less to eat," Rachel said all in one breath. "All of that however is beside the point because I cannot hang out with you tonight since I already have plans with Brittany and Santana." She wanted to just tell him that she was reserving every night for the next two weeks for when Santana's date invitation came, but she knew the Latina wasn't ready to be out. She was still coming to terms with her feelings and the girls still owed Santana's Papa a conversation, not to mention Rachel's dads. If Rachel were being 100% honest, while not ashamed of her feelings, she wasn't exactly eager to give the student body of McKinley yet another thing to harass her over and Finn had a tendency to become a petulant child when he was angry, and telling him about Santana would definitely make him angry.

"Why are you always with them?" Finn asked, "At school, in glee club, every time I wanted to hang out over break."

"Because they're my friends," Rachel said. While it wasn't strictly speaking a lie, it wasn't the whole truth, either. She and Brittany were certainly friends and she and Santana had been friends for years but for about the last three weeks they had been something more than that as well. Stolen moments in vacant classrooms, maintenance closets, and bedrooms as well as texting each other for hours every night they weren't together was one thing, but the half karat pink diamond earrings Santana had gotten Rachel as Christmas slash belated Hanukkah gift certainly meant that they were something more. Rachel was as far from materialistic as any teenage girl could be, but she recognized that the extremely rare and expensive stones could not have been easy to come by on such short notice. Santana was going to great lengths to woo her… and it was working.

"Yeah, since when, a couple weeks ago?" Finn said the contempt in his voice was obvious, "They're setting you up. Can't you see that?"

"No, they most certainly are _not_ setting me up for something," Rachel said trying her best to remain civil, "We've been friends for years. Since elementary school and while Santana and I have been something of an extended fight for the last year or so, that was only because we were both too stubborn to apologize to one another, but we've done that now. Fences are mended, friendship restored, all is right with the world once more."

"But why?" Finn had shifted into whiney petulant mode, "I mean, Brittany I kinda get. She's really dumb but kinda sweet, but Santana's nothing but a bitch!"

Rachel stamped her foot, crossed her arms across her chest, and glared at the tall boy, "Finn Hudson, I'll have you know that Santana, while caustic and abrasive at times, is the most dedicated and loyal person that I've ever met. In her capacity as head cheerleader, she's called an end to slushie attacks on the Glee Club, something that you," Rachel accented her point by poking the tall boy in the chest with one finger, "as quarterback of the football team and the most popular boy in school could have done, but did not which makes her a better team mate than you, and she considers my dietary choices when we go out... hang out which means that she's very considerate. Far from, as you say, just a bitch."

"Rach, you don't need to be on a diet. You're already tiny."

Rachel dropped her head, closed her eyes, and took a calming breath. She tried to remember why just a few short weeks ago she'd considered him the boy of her dreams. She couldn't come up with anything, really. "I didn't say that I was on a diet, I said I had specific dietary concerns, my aforementioned veganism, and another thing how _dare_ you call Brittany dumb, _you_ of all people?" Rachel poked him in the chest again, hard this time. "Brittany may not be the top of our class but she's far from dumb. I may have had to explain to her what veganism is but I don't have to _continually_ explain it to her, unlike some people, so that when she randomly brings me chocolates and snacks as she wont to do and I for her since we are, as I said, friends of many years, I know that they aren't made from animal products."

"Damn, Rachel," he said far louder than was necessary, "I'm sorry I'm not _perfect_. Just give me a freaking chance, okay?"

"HEY!" Santana bellowed from half the hall away. The Latina made a bee line for the tall boy standing over her soon-to-be girlfriend. Students dove into their lockers and empty classrooms to get out of her path. Being in Santana Lopez's way was a detriment to your health when she wasn't upset, so now was no time for them to press their luck. She grabbed him by one shoulder and forcibly turned him to face her, stuck a finger in his face and said, "You needs to be watching who the hell you're yelling at Gigantor! My girl Rachel has done exactly shit to you to warrant your tone, and even if she'd pulled your pants down in front of the entire school and lit your short curlies on fire you would still want to want to think long and hard about raising your voice even a single decibel to her because you messes Rachel Berry, you messes with me. The days of it being open season on my girl are a thing of the past. You gots me, white boy?"

"Your girl? You mean like...uh…" He trailed off afraid to piss the volatile girl anymore.

"If I did 'mean like...uh…'" she mocked his tone, "it wouldn't be any of _your_ damn business, Stay Puffed."

"Is that some kind of fat joke?" Finn looked confused… more so than normal.

"Oh. My. God! Watch a movie occasionally, Lloyd Christmas. It's a joke about how you are comically and impractically tall, goofy looking, and have a propensity for getting white goop all over the place in impossibly short amounts of time, there, Karl Malone." Finn just stood dumbfounded.

Santana turned to look at her girl and smiled. "Hey, Rach."

"Hello, Santana," she replied with a smile, "How has your day been? I was sad to miss you at lunchtime."

Santana rolled her eyes and huffed, "Sylvester, what can you do? My day's been okay, y'know, ups and downs, peaks and valleys. I've got my song ready."

"Have you?" Rachel asked excitedly.

"Yep, it is officially in my back pocket." The Latina stuck out her right elbow and said, "Walk you to Glee?"

Rachel beamed, "That would be lovely. Thank you, Santana." She looped her arm through Santana's, rested her head on Santana's shoulder, and the pair walked away from the still dumbfounded looking Finn. When they were out of earshot of earshot, Rachel said, "I get the reference to Ghostbusters, obviously, since it was one of our favorite movies. Lloyd Christmas, I get that, but who is Karl Malone?"

"Sports reference," Santana said.

"Ah, that explains why I don't get it. Elucidate?"

"Retired NBA Superstar Karl Malone a.k.a. The Mailman."

"Santana, that's terrible," Rachel said as she laughed in spite of herself, "you shouldn't make fun of people's… _shortcomings_."

Santana erupted in a huge belly laugh at Rachel's dig at the boy that lasted all the way to the choir room and then some.

A few minutes later everyone had arrived, "Okay guys, welcome back," said Mr. Schuester, on time for once, "I hope everyone had a good holiday break, I hope everyone got everything they wanted for Christmas and/or Hanukkah, and I hope everyone is ready to start gearing up for Regionals."

Santana's hand shot up into the air but she didn't wait for the teacher to call on her. "Actually, I know there's a least one person in here that has at least one Hanukkah wish that she's still waiting on," she stood up from her seat, looked back at Rachel who was already grinning at her, "but you're about to get it." She walked down to the floor and handed sheet music to Brad and then to the closest member of the jazz band. Turning back to face the group she said, "If any of you have hats with you, you mights want to puts them on, cuz I's about to blow your damn minds with a badass solo." Rachel and Brittany started clapping immediately. "Thank you, my beautiful ladies, you're very kind. So some of you that know us from way back, know me and Brits were big homies with Rachel since like forever, but me and Rach have been in this big ridiculous fight for like a year and some... too damn long anyways, so now we've made up and this song is for my girl so she knows for certain that I gots her back from here to Judgment Day. Ladies and gentlemen and Finn, I give you solo debut of Santana Lopez."

The band started playing while Santana pulled her hair down out of the standard Cheerios high pony tail. When Santana started to sing, the softness and emotion behind the words caught her off guard. "Oh, why you look so sad? The tears are in your eyes. Come on and talk to me now." Rachel had heard Santana sing a hundred times before but it always boisterous and showy. This was the opposite of that. This was personal and heartfelt. "Don't... be afraid to cry. Let me see you through cuz I've seen the dark side too. And when the night falls on you, you don't know what to do. Nothing you confess could make me love yoooou less. I'll stand by you." Rachel was beaming not just at the beautiful performance Santana was giving but at the sentiment too. "I'll stand by you. Won't let nobody hurt you." There was an apology in the Latina's eyes with this line. Rachel smiled the same big beautiful smile at her. "I'll stand by you. Take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you. I'll stand by you."

Santana quickly scanned the rest of the club and found most of them looking openly impressed. Finn looked either angry or like he had to fart, it was hard to distinguish the feelings in him. Santana couldn't resist smirking at the boy as she sang, "So if you're mad, get mad. Don't hold it all inside. Come on and talk to me now." She shifted her focus to the club in general. "Hey, what you got to hide? I get angry toooo. Yeah, I'm a lot like you." Santana looked to Rachel and held gazes with the tiny diva for the next lines. "If you're standing at the crossroads, don't know which path to choose, let me come aaaalong cuz even if yoooou're wrong I'll stand by you." Rachel's already big smile managed to grow even further. "I'll staaaand by you. Won't let nobody hurt you. I'll stand by you. Take me in into your darkest hour and I'll never desert you. I'll stand by you."

An eye cast back to Finn saw the boy fuming, Santana was sure the boy was moments away from violating the civil rights of chairs all over the school. She didn't care. He was a jackass that didn't deserve Rachel. "And when..." She refocused on Rachel once more for the finale and poured every bit of emotion she could muster into her voice, "when the night falls _on_ you, baby… and you're feeling all alone… you won't be on your own. I'll stand by you. Won't let nobody hurt you. I'll stand by you."

As predicted Finn stomped his way out of the room sending a chair flying into the bookshelves as he went. Most of the club was standing and clapping, but Rachel hopped out of her seat down to the floor crossed the short distance and flung her arms around Santana. "Thank you, Tana. You have no idea what that means to me. Whether we end up together or just friends I will cherish this memory always. You sounded beautiful, by the way. The best I've ever heard you."

"I had something important to sing about," Santana said. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I have no plans," Rachel said smiling into the Latina's neck.

"Then after Cheerios practice, I want to go to your house with you and tell your dads about us... everything about the last two years... and assuming Uncle Leroy doesn't kill me and if they'll still let me, I'd like to take you out."

"Tell them..." Rachel leaned back so that she could look Santana in the eyes, "_everything_?"

"Yeah," Santana confirmed, "about the names and the slushies and everything. I know you protected me from them and I love that you did that and I owe you so much for it, but they got a right to know who their daughter is dating. Unless you just don't want to tell them about us yet. In that case we can just say we're hanging out, but I still want them to tell them about what I did."

Rachel nodded, "We can tell them about us. It's very honorable of you, Santana."

"Yeah, well," she replied, "if we're gonna do this shit, we're gonna do it right. No secrets, no lies, nothing that's gonna blow us up down the line."

"That sounds like an excellent plan of action," Rachel said.

Momentarily the girls became aware of a presence very near them… a bouncing blonde presence. With no words spoken between them, only the briefest of glances exchanged, Rachel and Santana both reached out an arm to pull Brittany into the hug, and she accepted enthusiastically. "San, you sounded so awesome, you're totally my freaking hero right now." Rachel and Santana chuckled.

"Thanks, Britt," she responded.

**A/N: The song is "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders, and I know they already used it in the show, but honestly, it sucked. Finn/Cory butchered it and/or it was autotuned to death. Santana/Naya would have done a much better job of it.**


End file.
